Source: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty
Last night (June 6), during Game 3 of Golden State vs Toronto in the NBA Finals, Kyle Lowry crashed into the stands at Oracle Arena while trying to save the ball. The Raptors point guard was clearly shoved by a fan, and LeBron James is calling out the audacity of the guy.
It also turns out said “fan” is Mark Stevens, a minority investor in the Golden State Warriors and listed as a member of the team’s executive board in its media guide.
During the game, Lowry was visibly upset, telling the referee what transpired but ultimately had to go on with the game. Lowry also spoke on the matter during the post game presser, stating “He had no reason to touch me. He had no reason to reach over two seats and then say some vulgar language to me. There’s no place for people like that in our league.”
LeBron James co-signed Lowry’s sentiments, taking to Instagram to call out the shenanigans. Part of his caption of footage of the incident reads:
There’s absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL. There’s so many issues here. When you sit courtside you absolutely know what comes with being on the floor and if you don’t know it’s on the back on the ticket itself that states the guidelines. But he himself being a fan but more importantly PART-OWNER of the Warriors knew exactly what he was doing which was so uncalled for.
To their credit, the Warriors issued a statement saying Steven, a venture capitalist, wouldn’t be attending any more Finals games, and that they’re “investigating.”
“Mr. Stevens’ behavior last night did not reflect the high standard that we hope to exemplify as an organization,” said the Warriors said in a press statement. “We’re extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct.”
Check out King James full statement below. And he’s absolutely right—if Lowry had hooked off on the “fan” (read: a Black man assaulting a white man) there would be all hell in the media right now.
